DISCLAIMER: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I only own my own OCs and this particular fic/plotline...well, sort of. I mean, it is based off the manga/Brotherhood. So...yeah. Get on with your lives and keep reading.

Seven

Brosh took the liberty of knocking on the front door. After several moments, he sighed. "Maybe no one's home?"

Currently, they were at the house of a woman apparently named Sheska. Back at the library, Ed and Al had asked the receptionist about if Marcoh's research notes had somehow survived the fire, but there was no such luck. However, the receptionist had given them the address to the house of Sheska, a woman who had once worked in the first branch. The receptionist had mentioned that Sheska was a bookworm, so Delilah was a bit excited about meeting her. Of course, she wasn't as excited as Ed and Al, since Sheska was their only lead to the Philosopher's Stone at the moment.

"The light's on, so she should be here," Ed said. Without warning, he opened the door, and looked a bit surprised to find it unlocked. "Hello…? W-WHOA, WHAT'S WITH ALL THE BOOKS?"

Delilah peered past the boy to see that the inside of the room was literally jam-packed with piles and piles of books. The only floor space seemed to be small aisles used to get to the front door and the other rooms in the house.

It was her idea of paradise.

She quickly pushed past Ed and hurried up to one of the stacks, checking the spines and discovering that she had stumbled upon a whole plethora of textbooks on human anatomy. Happily, she grabbed the book at the top of the stack and opened it.

Edward sighed and took the book out of her hands. "Del, we gotta look for Sheska first. You can read later."

"But…! Okay," she relented, remembering why they were here.

While they had been talking, the rest of their group had ventured into the maze of books, calling out for Sheska. Delilah and Ed joined in the search, but soon it was over.

"Brother!" Al called, leaping into a pile of books and roughly digging through it. "Did you hear that? Someone's buried under there!"

"DIG! DIG!" Edward joined Al in his efforts, and soon they unearthed a bespectacled young woman with mousy brown hair.

Once she was free, the woman profusely apologized to them all. "I accidently tripped over the mountain of books. I thought I was going to die under there. Thank you very much!"

Ed sweatdropped. "You're welcome. Anyway, are you Sheska?"

"Yes, I am. Oh, you all can make yourselves comfortable…sorry, I don't really have chairs down here…." She trailed off before picking up again. "As you can tell, I really love books, so when I got a job at the library branch I was ecstatic! But…because I love to read so much, I, uh, was fired because I read too much while on the job. But I need to work hard so I can put my sick mother in a better hospital, but…"

Sheska suddenly started shaking. "I'm no good at anything but reading, so no matter where I go, I can never keep a job!" she all but wailed. "It's true. I'm the most useless person in the world! The scum of society!"

"Is she really all right…?" Edward muttered. He raised his voice slightly to speak to Sheska. "Uh, I just wanted to ask you one question. Do you know anything about some research documents by Tim Marcoh?"

Sheska considered the question for a moment. "Oh, yes, I remember! His notes were the only handwritten documents among all the printed books. Someone had filed them incorrectly, so I remember them quite well!"

"So it really was in that branch," Edward realized. Promptly, he and Al flopped to the floor. "…And that means the book's ashes now…"

"Thank you for your time," Al said weakly as he and his brother began to drag themselves toward the door.

"Um, so you wanted to read the research notes?" Sheska asked hesitantly.

Edward waved a hand as if to try and stop her from making him feel worse. "Yes, but now we'll never know what was written. That was the only copy."

"I remember what was in them," Sheska offered. "The whole thing."

Ed and Al stopped short before whipping around to face Sheska (the two nearly knocked Delilah over). "HUH?"

"I have a photographic memory," Sheska explained. "All I have to do is read something once and I can recall everything. Every word, every phrase, without error! It will take a while, but would you like me to transcribe them for you?"

And so, the deal was struck. Quite enthusiastically, too.

()()()()()

It was definitely going to take Sheska a while to write everything down, from what she said. Ed grumbled about having to wait, but Al shushed him and suggested they find some entertainment for the time being. Delilah agreed with the idea, bringing up the fact that she had never been to a city before, never mind the capital of Amestris.

Ed finally relented, so they first went to check into a hotel. He snapped irritably at the Ross and Brosh about how he wasn't going to pay for their room.

"Brother, they're only doing their jobs. And you have more than enough money to pay for three rooms."

Delilah tipped her head. "Three?"

"Don't you want your own room?" Ed asked, still cross at having to be "babysat."

"I do not mind sharing. The doctor's house has only two rooms, and one is a bathroom. I am used to it."

"Brosh and I can take turns sleeping in her room," Ross offered. "And we'll pay for half," she added in exasperation at Ed's look.

Edward couldn't find an argument against this, so he went to book the rooms (Al assured the officers that he would get Ed to fully pay for both rooms, and Brosh looked relieved). Once they had checked in and put away their belongings, they emerged out onto the sidewalk.

"Do you want to go anywhere specific, Delilah?" Al offered.

"If you guys haven't noticed, it's nearly time for dinner. It's actually past that," Ed interjected. As if on cue, Delilah's stomach growled, as did Brosh's.

"Oh, let's get pasta," Brosh urged. "I've been starving. There's a place just down the street."

Ross rolled her eyes, but when everyone agreed, she and the sergeant led them all down to a restaurant that was indeed only a couple of blocks away. Ed requested a table outside to accommodate for Al's bulk, and soon everyone was eating. (Even Alphonse was throwing some bread down his throat, so as to pretend he wasn't actually a stomach-less suit of armor. He didn't order anything because he hated to have Ed pay for something they didn't need, so Delilah offered him a share of her food. It wasn't as if she was going to eat it all, anyway.)

It had been an eventful day, so they decided to call it a night and check on Sheska after breakfast the next day.

But when Delilah lay down in her bed for the evening, she recalled what had been said about Scar, and she was too wrapped up in her thoughts to remember to take her medicine. Before she knew it, it was morning.

()()()()()

Al didn't want to bother Sheska, as he knew she wouldn't be done, and he was right. Ed still wasn't in the best of moods because of it, and he sighed as they left Sheska's house.

"Well, what're we gonna do today?" Brosh asked. Personally, he wanted to head to lunch already, even though they had just had breakfast.

"Do you wanna look around?" Al asked Delilah. "We could give you a tour of somewhere."

"I do have to write out a report for Colonel Bastard," Ed muttered. "I can do that at Central Command and send it to him while you guys look around."

"Brosh will have to stay with you," said Ross.

"I don't wanna sit around and help with paper—that's fine," the sergeant amended quickly, noting his partner's look.

It was a bit of a walk to Central Command, so Brosh called for their private car, which they had left at the hotel. With all five of them squeezing into the car, there was little room to even breathe. As small as Delilah was, she was tempted to open Al's chest plate and crawl inside, though she couldn't let Ross and Brosh know that he was hollow. But she was sure that it would be more comfortable inside Alphonse instead of being squashed up against Ross like she was.

Central Command was an impressive sight—Delilah had never seen such a huge building. On all sides, it was surrounded by tall walls, and each one was nearly a mile long. In one corner was an estate that belonged to the Fuhrer and his family, as Ross explained. Lots of space served as an open courtyard that led up to Command. Many men and women in uniform walked to and fro, some taking their time while others scurried. Delilah was fascinated.

The inside of the building was spacious and nearly spotless. The floors were so polished that Delilah could see her reflection in them.

"Without me with you, you can't go too far," Ed warned. "Not that there's a whole lot to see. Most of the stuff, if it's any interesting, is behind locked doors or in restricted hallways. Even I can't go everywhere," he grumbled. "Anyway, I'll meet up with you later."

Ross looked at Brosh expectantly, but Ed was halfway down the hall before the sergeant realized himself and hurried after the boy.

()()()()()

"To be honest," Ross said as she led them through the hallways, "there really isn't that much to see here. Almost everything has to do with paperwork."

"There's still the Hall of Fuhrers," Al pointed out. "That's an interesting place."

"Is Fuhrer Bradley there?" Delilah asked. She had no idea what the Fuhrer did all day; she wasn't well-versed in politics.

Ross chuckled. "I highly doubt that, Delilah. The Fuhrer is a busy man, what with running the country and all. He wouldn't be looking at paintings of long-dead men."

()()()()()

"Why hello, there," an aged man greeted them. The man wore an eye patch, and he sported a straight, black mustache.

He was also surrounded by a multitude of guards.

"F-Fuhrer Bradley, sir!" Ross straightened and stiffly saluted. Startled, Alphonse hesitated before snapping to attention and bowing. Belatedly, Delilah realized herself, and she took off her hat to show her respect before bowing as well.

"At ease, you three," the Fuhrer said warmly, abandoning where he stood at the foot of the last Fuhrer's portrait to approach them. "Second Lieutenant Ross," he greeted the woman. "And if I'm not mistaken, you must be Alphonse Elric, brother of the Fullmetal alchemist. And you are?" He turned to Delilah and smiled.

"Delilah Heywood," she replied automatically. Ross grunted quietly, and after a moment the young girl added, "Sir."

"And what brings you here today?"

"Sergeant Brosh and I have been assigned to act as Fullmetal's bodyguards until Scar has been apprehended, sir," Ross replied. "Fullmetal has to file a report for Colonel Mustang, so Brosh is with him while am I watching these two."

"Delilah has never been to Central before, so we thought we'd give her a tour, sir," Alphonse added.

Bradley smiled. "How are you enjoying the city so far, Miss Heywood? Has it lived up to your expectations?"

"Yes…sir. Central Command is very beautiful and impressive. And your house appears to be very beautiful, too."

"Well, my wife certainly does enjoy tending the garden." Bradley laughed. "Unfortunately, she's visiting family, and my son, Selim, is at school. I'm sure they would have loved to meet you and the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Excuse me, sir," one of the Fuhrer's bodyguards interjected, "but you have a meeting with the Senior Staff in ten minutes."

"My, how time flies," Bradley said. "My apologies for leaving in such a rush. It was a pleasure to meet you. Tell your brother I said hello, Alphonse."

With that, he left, followed closely by his bodyguards. The trio stiffened back into their postures of respect as he departed.

Ross didn't relax from her salute until the last bodyguard was out of sight. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I wasn't expecting that."

"Me neither," said Al. "He seemed like a nice man, though."

"I wonder why he wears that eye patch," Delilah said. "An alchemic doctor might be able to heal his eye if it is injured."

Ross shrugged. "There are lots of rumors about it, but no one can say for sure. Though he has said he likes wearing it."

Alphonse shrugged. "Oh, Delilah, I guess you were right; he was here." He laughed a little.

()()()()()

When they were finished with the tour, they met up with Ed and Brosh at the front steps of the building. Both boys looked incredibly bored.

"Finally!" Ed called when he caught sight of them. "Took you long enough."

"Brother! We meet the Fuhrer," Alphonse told him excitedly.

Brosh blinked. "Really?

Delilah nodded. "He seems to be a very nice man."

"He said to say 'hello,'" Al added to Ed. The golden-haired boy looked puzzled.

"Weird that you come across him now, when you were touring for the first time, Del," he noted. "I guess it's neat that you got to meet him. But Anyway, I wanted to head over to the library to scope out some books we might need if we have to cross-reference Marcoh's notes."

With that, the group headed out.

()()()()()

Two days later, Sheska still hadn't finished transcribing Marcoh's notes. In that time, the group had wandered around the city and generally wasted time, though Delilah enjoyed herself. It was fun to see all the interesting places in the city, especially when Ed and Al commented on anything and everything. Normally, Delilah was terrible at keeping up with a conversation, but there was something about the Elric brothers that made her feel comfortable and a bit more talkative and attentive. She felt different, but in a good way.

However, those days weren't all smiles for her. At night, she couldn't sleep a wink—her thoughts were too full for her to remember that she needed to take her medicine in order to go to sleep. Yet, she stayed still and silent, so Ross and Brosh, when they took turns sleeping, had no idea that she was still awake. It wasn't that she didn't want to worry them or keep them up; she simply forgot they were there.

First, he mind would recount the day's events and wonder about the next day. Seemingly random thoughts would play in her head, but they always led her back to the same people: Edward and Alphonse. At these times, she couldn't help but remember how physically broken they had been when she had met them, and she remembered how this "Scar" person was responsible for that. Just his description made her nervous—a scar, a huge scar on his forehead, not to mention the fact that, even though she had never seen an Ishvalan before and had no reason to fear their skin or eye color, everyone referred to his race as something awful. The fact that he had killed State Alchemists with ease was also what kept her from resting.

After having gone for several days without sleeping, Delilah was just about out of it. In the morning, when she and Ross were preparing for the day, the Second Lieutenant had pointed out that she had put her dress on backwards. And at breakfast, just holding her fork straight had been a problem, which caused her even more trouble when she actually tried to eat. It was when Brosh caught her talking to a statue in the park as if it were Alphonse that the group began to worry.

Brosh hurried over to Ross and the Elric brothers to describe what he had seen. As one, the group glanced over to see that Delilah was now inspecting the flowers at the side of the path. Once they all had determined that she was acting relatively normal—at least for the time being—the four huddled together.

"She does seem to be quieter than usual today," Al noted.

"She put on her dress backwards this morning, and I had to help her put it on right," Ross added.

"She drank milk of all things at breakfast." Ed shuddered. "Oh, and she also kept dropping her fork."

"Drinking milk is normal for everyone but you, Brother," Al pointed out. "Do you think she's sick or something?"

Ed shrugged and frowned in thought. "She's seems distracted…well, more than usual, and since she thought that statue was Al, perhaps she could be hallucinating…. The best thing to do would be to approach her cautiously and ask her if she's been sleeping okay…. Have you two noticed anything at night?"

"I think I fall asleep before she does," Brosh offered uselessly.

"She always faces the other way, so I can't really tell," said Ross.

"Oh, I remember her telling me she's gone for a while without sleeping before," Al said. "She could be doing that again, for some reason."

Ed nodded. "Okay. Anyway, we're going to have to remain calm so we don't startle her and put her under any stress."

The group nodded and turned, only to find that Delilah was no longer there.

The boys jumped a foot in the air, clinging to each other in panic. "WHERE'D SHE GO?"

While the men freaked, Ross gained her bearings and discovered shoeprints in the grass leading away from the main path. After shouting at the boys to draw their attention and snap them out of their stupidity, she led them off the path and through the park. It was a bit difficult to discern where Delilah may have gone, as the grass shortened as they went on and it was harder to see where she had crushed the stalks as she walked.

Thankfully, Delilah hadn't been able to get too far, and they soon found her sitting with her knees tucked beneath her. She sat under an oak tree, her head bowed slightly so that it was hard to see her face around her hat.

"Hey, Del," Ed said, sounding gentle for once. "Don't run off like that."

Al knelt down beside the girl. "Yeah, you worried us." He was about to say something more, but he broke off when he noticed her trembling slightly. She lifted her head so her eyes were no longer shielded by her hat, and they all saw that her blue irises were hazy and unfocused.

"S-Scar…"

Everyone tensed, and Ross and Brosh immediately drew their guns and took up defensive positions.

"What do you mean, Del?" Ed asked.

Delilah reached out a shaky hand and touched Al's chest plate. "…Scar broke you again…."

Alphonse shifted in surprise, and it was a moment before Ed relaxed, but only slightly. "She's only hallucinating. He's not here."

"'Only'?" Al repeated incredulously.

Delilah tensed at his tone. "A-Alphonse?"

Al realized his mistake and tried to calm her down while Ed instructed Brosh to go get a car ready. "I'm okay, Delilah. Scar didn't hurt me at all. He's not even here."

Delilah moved her hand across his chest as if to assure herself that he was truly in one piece. "…Edward?"

"I'm okay too, see?" Ed said, pulling off his gloves and showing her his hands. "Not a scratch. Al," he went on quietly, "can you carry her?"

Al nodded and leaned closer to the girl. "Delilah, mind if I carry you?" When she didn't respond, he slowly picked her up anyway. As he stood, Delilah realized she was being carried and instinctively snuggled closer to his chest; the action would've caused Al to blush if he had blood. That is, until he saw that her eyes were still bleary.

"Delilah?" he prompted worriedly. She didn't reply. She simply closed her eyes and lost consciousness.

a/n: This was going to be shorter, but I thought it would've been too short so I added some in to what was going to be the next chapter. So, yeah...cliffie. Ish. I guess? XD I already have part of the next chapter written in my notebook, so it shouldn't take too long for me to write the next chapter. So you shouldn't be waiting too long, I hope.

I decided to include the Fuhrer in this chapter...just because. I dunno. I like how he seems like a generally nice man on the surface, but can become totally stern and dark two seconds later. Hah, when I was writing I could already hear some of you guys going, "PFT, nice man my ass," xD

But anyway, I've updated the summary of this fic to say that there may be a bit of darker themes later. They'll be pretty heavy in one or two chapters and certain scenes afterwards, but it definitely won't happen for several chapters, and it won't become the focus of the entire fic. I'm probably getting ahead of myself/overreacting to this, but I just wanted to let you guys know. I don't think it's anything to up the rating for, since I won't describe anything...ugh, I'm sorry, I'm probably worrying/boring you guys? Idk. I'll just shut up now.

...I mean, I'd only change the rating if I put a lemon in this story (something I've never done before), but that wouldn't happen until Al has his body back and he's healthy and all that jazz. So. Yeah. Um.

Ugh, just ignore my ramblings and leave a review on your way out? :3 They're greatly appreciated!